Tame Impala - Apocalypse Dreams

Australian four-piece Tame Impala are no strangers to excess. Therefore, the fact the first track to be revealed from forthcoming second album, ‘Lonerism’ is a six-and-a-half-minute piece of grandiose symphonic rock should come as no surprise.

The portentously titled ‘Apocalypse Dreams’ bears all the hallmarks of their acclaimed 2010 debut album ‘Innerspeaker’ but this time their psychedelic rock sound has been beefed up and taken to an altogether bigger sonic plane.

‘Apocalypse Dreams’ is a song in two parts. The first two minutes are given over to pounding, repetitive drums accompanying an insistent piano hook, and the premise here seems to be the fear of change in a modern world, an apposite theme given the band’s penchant for recreating music of what now seems a bygone age. Kevin Parker’s wonderful falsetto is in fine voice, as he first sounds hopeful (‘It could be the day when all our dreams come true’) and then his hope turns to plaintive resignation (‘Everything is changing and there is nothing I can do’).

One of the best things about Tame Impala is their grasp of dynamic and ability to create songs that shift their shape almost effortlessly. ‘Apocalypse Dreams’ progresses by way of bubbling classic synth sounds in to psych rock symphony, with guitar solos and drum rolls aplenty as it floats dreamily off in to the ether. Rock music with a classical bent, classical music by way of a space-rock jam. Impressive stuff from a band who are resolutely sticking to a classic sound and taking it on to a new, and by the sounds of it exciting, level.